Learn how to make this easy, light and refreshing dragon fruit agar agar cake layered with coconut milk pandan flavor on top. It's our new favorite agar cake!
4gragar agar powder2 tsp (or 8 gr agar agar flakes or agar agar strands)
60grsugar
Dragon fruit layer:
750mlwater
6gragar agar powder3 tsp (or 12 gr agar agar flakes or agar agar strands)
1yellow dragon fruituse 2 fruits if you like and any variety of dragon fruit will work
90grsugar
You will need:
7 x 7 inch square panfor taller cake
Instructions
Cut the dragon fruit:
While waiting for the coconut milk layer to set, cut the dragon fruit in half. You can easily use your fingers to peel the skin right off. Cut the dragon fruit into small cubes
Make coconut pandan juice:
Roughly chop the pandan into 1-inch piece. Put in a blender and pour half of the coconut milk in and blend until you get a green color coconut milk. Strain the liquid and use the back of the spoon or your hand to squeeze any extra liquid out as much as you can. Mix this with the other half of the coconut milk to make sure it measures 500 ml. Top up with more water if needed
Alternatively, if you have pandan extract, you can skip the step above and add 2 teaspoons of the extract to the coconut milk mixture
Prepare the coconut pandan layer:
Put all ingredients for coconut milk layer in a saucepan. Stir to dissolve the agar agar powder. Bring to a gentle boil (do not hard boil or the coconut milk wilk "break")and then lower the heat to let it simmer. Keep stirring until you no longer see the agar agar powder, about 2-3 minutes or longer. Make sure you do not see anymore agar agar specks or granules of agar agar in the liquid or your cake won't set later. Keep it warm on the lowest heat
Prepare the dragon fruit layer:
Combine all the ingredients for the dragon fruit layer in a saucepan. Stir to mix the agar agar powder. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to let it simmer and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Make sure you no longer see the agar agar powder. Also keep this warm on the lowest setting
Layering the cake:
Pour the coconut pandan layer into a 8 x 8 inch baking pan. Let it sets at room temperature until it is firm enough to hold the next layer, but don't let them set completely or the next layer will not stick to it and will separate. Just let them set until they form a thin film layer that doesn't stick to your finger when you touch it but will slightly "jiggle" when you gently shake it. Hope that makes sense
When the coconut milk layer has set, arrange the cubed dragon fruit pieces on top of the cake. Put it back in the refrigerator
Very gently pour this on top of the coconut pandan layer with dragon fruit pieces on top. Let it cool down and set at room temperature a little bit and then gently transfer this to the refrigerator and let it chill until it sets. I recommend chilling for at least 2-3 hours before unmoulding and cutting
Unmoulding and cutting:
Use a sharp thin knife to loosen all four edges of the cake. Cover a plate on top of the mould and then flip the mould over to unmould the cake. Cut into the desired size and served chilled
Leftover:
Leftover can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days max. Dragon fruit has high water content and so the longer you keep this agar agar cake in the fridge, the more water will ooze out from the cake, which is normal
Notes
If you use agar agar flakes: Dissolves it in the liquid (not hot liquid) you are going to cook and then put on the stove and bring to a boil until it dissolves completely.
If you use agar agar strands: 1. Cut into 1-inch pieces or shorter so you can measure with measuring cup 2. Soak them for 15-20 minutes 3. Put in a liquid you plan to use and bring to a boil and boil until the agar agar dissolves completely